Monday, November 16, 2009

Marrying wool

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I started this post earlier this week but it'll fit for today's WWW. I am a quilter at heart but I have started working with wool and I just love it. This is a long post so grab a cup of your favorite drink and enjoy the pictures.I wanted to try my hand at dying some wool but I didn't have much cream colored wool to start the process. So I researched my options and decided to "marry" some. I started with a green tweed wool blazer,a dark hunter green skirt, and a couple of pieces of an old army blanket. Marrying wool is the process of using the dye that bleeds from one piece of fabric to another. It causes the wool to all be in the same color family so it is "married".I had picked up some crochet thread this summer at a garage sale so I thought I would try to dye some of it also. Here is my attempt at making shanks of the thread. I was home alone so I used the chair.You must wet your wool before putting it in the pot to steep. I filled the sink with cold water and still could see the color starting to come out of the skirt mostly. Then into the pot for boiling. I couldn't get a good picture of this stage cause there was too much steam but you get the idea. The thread didn't take the color very well so I scrapped that for now but the wool is fabulous.This the green tweed after. Compare to the small square of the before. The army blanket was a gold/green before dying. Now it is a nice soft olivey (is that a word) green.This is the hunter green skirt before and after. This is the wool that changed the most. It lent sooooo much color to the rest of the wool. I can't wait to make a large penny rug with these greens they turned out really well for a first time and not knowing what I was doing.

I also tried over dyeing a piece of the green tweed with a bright red. The tweed turned a wonderful cranberry color. The red didn't change at all. I believe that was because the green didn't lose any dye and the red did.

I did buy a package of Brown Cushing's Dye at a sale and decided since I had the dye pots out I would try it. I dyed a couple pieces of cream and I think it turned out great. It will even blend with the greens. Isn't it a luscious soft brown???I'll close with a few pictures of penny rugs I've been working on.

My all purple penny rug. The smallest penny is a purple plaid.

The back picture is a little bright. It really is a nice prim looking rug.Aren't these the cutest things??? They are penny rug mug mats. Of course you could use them under anything.....jar candles, candlesticks etc. I saw them on Penny Rugs and More.Colleen does a fantastic job. Check out her blog for Penny rug inspiration.I'll try and get a truer color picture. They are from the over dyed red and tweed in the center and the background is the olivey. They show too turquoise here.

I guess it's time to start working on Christmas. I guess I'll get some done for next week.Be sure and check out Leslie's blog and see what everyone is working on.

Great job, Rhonda! I just dyed wool for the first time this past weekend (it's on my blog). It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. I have one more batch to do tonight then I can clean up all the mess. Dear Family will be glad it is out of the kitchen! I started with wool yardage but "marrying wool" sounds like fun, too.

Loved your post about marrying wool. I always get surprises when I try it. Your brown turned out fantastic! I just stopped by to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. I hope the coming year brings you good health, lots of love and plenty of time for crafty wool pursuits!Lauri

About Me

I live in suburbia with my DH and my 2 girls 15 and 16. I love primitives and vintage and antique textiles. Anything old is my motto. And the older the better. Creating is what drives me. Join me as I walk through the journey of life.